RTÉ crisis: Board statement coming; Forbes gone; O’Callaghan, Byrne, Duffy outline salaries

Where are we now?

• The RTÉ director general Dee Forbes resigned first thing Monday morning on the sixth day of a controversy surrounding secret payments to presenter Ryan Tubridy.
• Calls for former DG to still appear at Oireachtas hearings this week
• “For the purpose of transparency, honesty and clarity, I want to put on the record that my most recently published fee from RTE - €263,500 - is correct.” Miriam O’Callaghan
• Claire Byrne first to outlines salary live on air and says revelations have left her heartbroken
• Joe Duffy also details his fees from the national broadcaster.
• The crisis that has engulfed the broadcaster since last week was described over the weekend by the Minister for Arts Catherine Martin as “existential”.
• Ms Martin announced that an external review into the governance and culture at RTÉ is to be launched within weeks.
• She said the Government’s decision on the future funding model for public service broadcasting has been paused “until such time as this review is complete and the findings considered”.
• The three Government party leaders will discuss the RTÉ situation at their weekly meeting this evening before the Minister for Arts and Media, Catherine Martin, briefs her Cabinet colleagues on Tuesday.
• On Wednesday, RTÉ executives will face the first of two Oireachtas committees who are investigating the scandal, when they appear at the Arts and Media Committee followed by the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday.
• On the Saturday just passed, the interim deputy director general of RTÉ Adrian Lynch apologised to staff for the breach of trust and in an email he said he shared their “shock and anger” about €345,000 in hidden payments made to Tubridy over a six-year period.
• Tubridy will not host his radio show this week. He said he was “disappointed” to be taken off the air next week but RTÉ said on Friday that presenters could not be at the centre of controversy.
• You can find comprehensive coverage of the RTÉ pay controversy here.

Many of us have been learning a lot more than we ever thought we need to know about the corporate structure of the public broadcaster.

If you need a primer, we have you covered, or at least Colm Keena does. “RTÉ is a semi-State body that is funded by way of TV licence income and the selling of advertising, sponsorship, and other commercial arrangements. It has a board that decides on policy and corporate direction, and an executive that is responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation. The director general combines the role of chief executive and editor-in-chief, chairing the executive board while also being a member of the overall board. Individual executive board members oversee specific areas of the RTÉ operation and report to the director general.” The full story has just gone live.

Hard to put into words how incredibly sad I have been since this story broke

Miriam O’Callaghan has become the latest RTE presenter to issue a statement about their earnings.

This is what she said.

“For the purpose of transparency, honesty and clarity, I want to put on the record that my most recently published fee from RTE - €263,500 - is correct, as are the published fees for previous years. I have never received additional payments from RTE that were not publicly declared.

It’s hard to put into words how incredibly sad I have been since this story broke last Thursday. I had no idea this was coming down the tracks. I feel you, our listeners and viewers, have been badly let down. I love RTE - it’s a wonderful place to work, full of superb people who work very hard and conscientiously every day to deliver good programmes. Right now, there’s profound shock, anger and sadness among everyone working there.

All we can do as journalists now, is cover this story as rigorously as we cover every other story. That’s what we did on Prime Time last Thursday, on the day the story first broke, and that is what we will continue to do.

It is not just the former Late Late Show presenter’s deal that is coming under the spotlight. There has been calls for RTÉ to outline how much it is paying incoming host Patrick Kielty.

Fine Gael TD Colm Burke who sits on the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee, which is due to hear from RTÉ senior executives on Thursday, said the broadcaster must be fully open and transparent when it comes to Kielty’s deal

“RTÉ must outline in full the pay deal set with the incoming Late Late Show host, Patrick Kielty,” the Cork North Central TD said. “It is a call that might not be well received by some of the senior management at RTÉ, but they brought this fully on themselves. They have nobody to blame for this mess other than their own decisions and inaction in failing to provide a clear account of the financial practices that took place at the broadcaster. Everything is on the table this week and that includes the pay deal struck this year with Mr Kielty. Taxpayers deserve the full truth.”

Only time will tell.

Another statement, this time from RTÉ's Trade Union Group.

“At lunchtime today, staff representatives expressed the anger, shock and disappointment of staff throughout the organisation following the revelations surrounding payments to Ryan Tubridy. The meeting was chaired by Stuart Masterson, chair of the TUG, and heard a summary of the reaction of members from TUG secretary, Cearbhall Ó Síocháin.

“There is an unprecedented level of anger across the organisation. Having accepted pay-cuts in the past, having endured a series of austerity measures and a reduction in resources, RTÉ workers feel betrayed, misled and let-down.”

The following motion was unanimously adopted at the meeting.

“The TUG calls for all current members of the RTÉ executive board to fully co-operate with the Oireachtas sub-committees on Media and Public Accounts. The TUG also calls on former director general, Dee Forbes, to attend, noting her statement setting out her role in the payment arrangements and mindful of her direct involvement in pursuing cost-reduction policies affecting staff.

“We call on RTÉ to publish all remuneration packages of the current Executive Board in full.

“We call for an examination of the manner in which RTÉ engages third-party agencies and the use of third-party contracts.

“As Ireland’s public service broadcaster, RTÉ must behave in an ethical and transparent manner and in line with the highest standards in employment and industrial relations.”

The TUG is requesting a meeting with Minister for Media, Catherine Martin, to discuss the participation of unions and staff in the external review into governance and culture in RTÉ. The meeting also called for a meeting with the acting director general, Adrian Lynch. The TUG has already requested a meeting with chair of the RTÉ board, Síle Ní Raghallaigh.”

This is a depressing but not wrong assessment from Newstalk this morning.

There are two Oireachtas hearings this week, on Wednesday and Thursday. Jack Horgan Jones has details of who will be invited to the first of those hearings.

If Liveline takes the pulse of the nation, it is worth paying attention to what is being said. Here’s a snapshot of what people are saying on today’s show. It is, as you might imagine, wall-to-wall Tubridy.

“There is still so many unanswered questions so many unanswered questions that no one has answered.”

“I commend the way in which RTE staff are dealing with this whole situation live on air as they perform their jobs however as an ordinary citizen I do have to question the way in which the outgoing Director General has conducted herself... it feels a bit like the captain scrambling for the only life boat on the sinking ship.”

“I have never watched the late Late Show and I have never listened to his radio programs but on the other hand I think we should be fair and reasonable with everybody... He is an independent contractor, he or his agent have the right to negotiate whatever deal they think is in his best interest... so I would not blame Ryan Tubridy entirely as far as this matter is concerned.”

“If your agent comes back to you and says ‘well listen you will get X amount but they will do X + y if we’re prepared to let the advertising company pay some of the money’ your only question and is question is it legal.”

“RTE set out the terms of the deal and he complied with the terms that somebody in RTE agreed to.”

He’s not obliged to comment ...he’s paid tax on everything so he’s quite legal and above board.”

“The issue is transparency and accountability and who knew what when.”

“Ryan has a moral obligation to give that money back. What work did he do for that money? He had a moral responsibility to say I am getting extra money for doing nothing.”

‘Mother of God, what company would sponsor Liveline?’

Joe Duffy addressed his own terms and conditions towards the end of Liveline in response to queries from a caller.

“The last published figures for me in 2021 were €351,000, 300 [thousand euro] of that is for radio and 51 [thousand euro] is for whatever they asked me to do on television... that’s the figure in my contract.

“My contract goes... was due up this year because I only wanted to do four years at that time, in 2019. RTÉ asked me could they put in a clause that they would be allowed to ask me to do an extra two years. They invoked that clause three months ago and said ‘will you agree to another two years, the exact same conditions and no changes, no increases’. I said yes. The conversation was five minutes... I said I’d gladly do another two years and they said ‘thank you very much’ and that’s it.”

Duffy went on to say that he had “never heard of a barter deal or whatever it’s called. I’ve never been offered any payments by a sponsor. Mother of God, what company would sponsor Liveline? We’ve given out about every company in the land and beyond.”

“This is no way to run a circus, never mind a public broadcaster.” Quote of the day so far goes to the NUJ’s Seamus Dooley speaking on the public broadcaster.....

What did we learn from the Taoiseach’s comments this morning? Jack Horgan Jones has some answers.

“Dee Forbes is not going quietly [and in her resignation statement she] makes it clear she did not act alone in the unorthodox 2020 deal with the star presenter. She also claims no knowledge at all of €120,000 in hidden Tubridy payments in 2017-2019, a period when she was RTÉ's top executive and the editor-in-chief. It seems an utterly dysfunctional situation.” Arthur Beesley has some analysis of today’s dramatic developments.

Another statement has landed. It is from the RTÉ board. Full text below.

RTÉ is acutely aware that the issues that were communicated by the RTÉ Board in its statement last Thursday have raised profound questions. The public, public representatives and RTÉ staff want to know what happened, how it happened and who is accountable. We are very mindful of the need to provide clarity as soon as possible, and we are committed to doing so.

Tomorrow afternoon, RTÉ will issue a comprehensive statement setting out its understanding of the circumstances surrounding the misstating of Ryan Tubridy’s earnings across the 2020-2022 period. RTÉ will also publish as much as possible of the Grant Thornton review, which was commissioned by the Audit and Risk Committee of the RTÉ Board, and received by the Board on Monday last, June 19th 2023.

As per the RTÉ Board statement last Thursday, the circumstances that led to the misstatement of Ryan Tubridy’s earnings from 2017-2019 are separately being reviewed by Grant Thornton and therefore will not be included in tomorrow’s statement.

Members of the RTÉ Board and Executive will be represented at the Joint Oireachtas Committee and the Public Accounts Committee this week.

We have no further comment to add at this time.

‘I still think she should come before the Oireachtas committee’

Make no mistake, much of the focus in the coming hours - and days - will be whether or not Dee Forbes will appear before the Oireachtas hearings into the secret payments scandal that has rocked the national broadcaster. This has just landed from Vivienne Clarke.

The chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley has said that if Dee Forbes is medically able to attend the PAC meeting this week, then she should do so.

Mr Stanley was responding to a statement by Ms Forbes in which she raised the issue of the impact of the controversy on her health and wellbeing.

He added that he also wanted the chair of the RTE board to attend, as well as the secretary general of the Government departments which oversees the media. It was important that the “central players”, the people who had been involved in dealings with agent Noel Kelly come before the committee.

He wanted to know “who came up with this idea, who designed it, who put that backup system in place despite these powerful accounts, who had oversight and who knew about it?” Mr Stanley thought it was a very strange decision commercially for RTE to step in and make the payment when the commercial agreement fell through.

He added that he had been very encouraged since last Thursday by the manner in which the story had been reported by RTÉ “as diligently and impartially as anybody else.” That had been encouraging to see and he was happy that it had not been hampered. However, he was very concerned at the lack of corporate governance within the station and called for any external review to be carried out quickly.

There also needed to be full transparency about the financial assistance received by RTÉ. “The sooner that happens the better.” Public sector broadcasting needed to be protected, but he was concerned about the approach by RTÉ management. If the attitude they had taken before previous meetings of the Committee was going to continue then that would cause further harm and damage to the brand of RTÉ. - Vivienne Clarke

Call for RTÉ chairwoman to meet all board members individually to clarify their involvement

So, there was a blizzard of statements of the secret payments controversy on Friday - and then again on Saturday. Monday is shaping up to be no different. First there was Dee Forbes, then the RTÉ board, then Claire Byrne and now we have a statement from the NUJ.

“In resigning [Dee] Forbes has raised several fundamental issues which give rise to serious questions which must be answered by RTÉ. Ms Forbes states that she led discussions with the agents for Ryan Tubridy ‘together with other RTÉ senior executives,’” said the NUJ’s Séamus Dooley.

“It would now be appropriate for the Chair of the RTÉ Board to meet with each member of the Executive Board and to clarify their individual involvement, if any, in the process outlined by Ms Forbes including the extent of their knowledge of the arrangements put in place to facilitate additional payments to Mr Tubridy, their role in implementing the agreement and in decisions relating to the way the additional payments were concealed. It would be a matter for the board to deal with the outcome of these meetings, having due regard to the need for due process, fair procedures, and the imperative of restoring trust in the Executive board among staff, the members of the Oireachtas and the public.”

Former RTÉ correspondent Ciaran Mullooly, who worked for the station for over 25 years has expressed his frustration, concern and upset at the details in relation to the unreported fees paid to Ryan Tubridy.

“My concern over the last few days have been principally about the effect on the staff, my colleagues, the ordinary workers in newsroom, but also on the effect to the licence payer of the service we were providing and trying to provide and the effect of cutbacks over the years.

“Even when I left two years ago, the head of news, John Williams, was in the process of finding up to €2 million in cutbacks in the organisation, and that meant things like vacancies in the newsroom being left vacant. My job was left vacant for over a year after I left,” he told the Today with Claire Byrne show. Mr Mullolly added that every time there were meetings with members of the executive about cuts they were told that the process of reducing salaries was under way. “Quite clearly, that was not the case.”

“I’m afraid, if anything, the statement by Dee Forbes this morning has made me even more frustrated with the situation and even more bitter about what was going on.” Mr Mullooly was particularly upset by the fact that when the commercial barter deal fell through RTE paid the money – at a time when staff were being furloughed, freelancers were being laid off and resources were being cut back. “To me that is absolutely disgusting.”

RTÉ was now at a crossroads, he warned. The explanation given in the past that high fees were required to retain big names was not a valid reason, he said. “Many of us thought it was rubbish.”

“I’m not aware of any other broadcaster in these islands who was prepared to pay salaries of over €300,000 and €400,000 to some presenters in those days or indeed today. And I think that has to be said.”I think back on some of the projects that I was involved in which were stopped and could not go ahead because of lack of funding, I am absolutely angry and frustrated today. And above all, I’m very sorry for my staff, my colleagues who are still in the organisation. The newsroom itself had been reduced in terms of staff numbers. People are doing the jobs of two and three people in some places in the newsroom today because of cutbacks. If this was going on behind their back, the staff wasn’t told. And more significantly, the government wasn’t told.” - Vivienne Clarke

Claire Byrne: ‘I’d no prior warning, no inkling that there was a problem on the horizon’

The Claire Byrne programme has just started and it is worth quoting her opening monologue in full:

“Good morning and welcome to the programme. Before we start today I want to talk to you about the news that emerged here last week, over the last couple of days and indeed this morning too.

“Now you might know I wasn’t here on Thursday and Friday just gone and I know that some people had linked my absence to the payments controversy and wondered if I was in some way implicated or involved.

“The truth of it is I’d booked those two days off months ago. One of my children was involved in a dance competition in Kerry and we all decided to go with her and make a few days of it so the fact that I wasn’t sitting here when the news broke was a complete coincidence.

“I saw and I heard that news coming in just as everyone else did. I’d no prior warning, no inkling that there was a problem on the horizon. I wasn’t even aware that presenter fees including my own were subjected to a Grant Thornton torn review. I knew absolutely nothing about it and just like everyone else I’ve been grappling over the last few days with what has happened and the implications of it for all of us here in RTE and for you.”

She said that she has listened to Liveline and heard callers talking to Joe Duffy and “heard them talking about being disappointed, about trust being broken and the importance of transparency and for me and for all the great people that I work with here every day on this show, hearing that is nothing short of heartbreaking because I can tell you that as programme makers our aim is always to be consistent, to be fair, to be professional and to respect the hard earned trust that you the audience has placed in us.

“So with all of that said there are a couple of things that I want to make clear here this morning.

“Firstly the fee that has been published for me most recently is correct as are those published in the past... no other payment exists or has ever existed beyond my published fee. Secondly my most recent published fee was €350,000 now that was the fee agreed by RTÉ for me to present both this radio program and Claire Byrne Live and as you may know I decided not to continue with that television show for personal and for family reasons

“And so in order to be fully transparent with you here today I want you to know that my RTE fee now is €280,000 and that fee was agreed for presenting this program and that last contract was negotiated by Noel Kelly.

“I recently presented the television quiz show Ireland’s Smartest and for that I was paid a separate fee of €25,000 that contract was negotiated by other members of the NK management company.

“I acknowledge that fee is significant and it’s way beyond what many people could hope to earn. There are others who will no doubt have more to say about it I’m sure but my personal decision here this morning is to be open and honest with you.

“Having said that my decision to do this is not meant to set a precedent for others or to force anyone else to release their information - that’s a matter entirely for themselves. I felt that for me it was the right thing to do this morning.”

She concluded by saying that with that fee there “comes a duty for me to treat this position with respect and I hope you can trust me and the team of journalists that I work with to cover this story about RTE with the same rigor and balance as we would any other story on this programme”.

The Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe was on Newstalk this morning. Being interviewed by Pat Kenny stand-in Ivan Yates he said that the review into the secret payments controversy would have to establish “why these payments were signed off” and by who and “if this is an arrangement that has stretched beyond a single individual or a single contract”.

When asked if he believed Ryan Tubridy should return to RTÉ in advance of the completion of that external review, Mr Donohoe refused to be drawn.” “I fundamentally do not believe that politicians should decide who’s on air, I believe that is a decision that should be made by their management.”

RTÉ's chief financial officer did not have oversight of the controversial “barter account” associated with the hidden payments to Ryan Tubridy, the broadcaster has said. Colm Keena has more on who knew what and what actually happened.

One very key question that was not answered in the lengthy statement from Ms Forbes is whether or not she will appear before on or both of the Oireachtas committee meetings taking place this week. Given that she has now resigned, it is very possible she will not which might make putting the jigsaw puzzle together just a little bit tricky. Time will tell what happens on that front.

And this is the view of Micheál Martin on the unfolding developments.

“I believe there should be full presentations to the Dáil committees and obviously the former director general would have knowledge of the entire situation, and would be in position to clarify issues to the Oireachtas committee. The Government wants the fullest possible presentation at that Oireachtas committee and anybody who knows the details could bring clarity, and that’s what the people want, it’s what the Oireachtas wants.”

For decades, people inside and outside RTÉ have wanted the organisation to change in many different ways. Could this be the moment? Could a scandal with multiple moving parts end up instigating the reform, transparency and accountability that so many know is needed?” That is the question Una Mullally is asking today

As you might imagine, the letters to the Editor about the crisis are still coming in.

Here’s just one of them from today’s paper.

Sir, – In an organisation like RTÉ that has a penchant for repeats, let’s hope the Tubridy affair is a once-off. – Yours, etc,

EUGENE KILKENNY,

Dublin 16.

Not long after the Dee Forbes statement came one from the board of RTÉ. It was a good deal more terse.

“We acknowledge receipt this morning of correspondence from Dee Forbes confirming her resignation as Director General with immediate effect. We note the contents of her accompanying statement.

“Representatives of the RTÉ Board and Executive will be attending the Joint Oireachtas Committee and Public Accounts Committee this week.”

The Dee Forbes statement in full

“I regret very much the upset and adverse publicity suffered by RTÉ, its staff and the unease created among the public in recent days. As Director General, I am the person ultimately accountable for what happens within the organisation and I take that responsibility seriously. I am tendering my resignation to RTÉ with immediate effect.

“I have engaged with and consistently co-operated with the processes directed towards answering questions surrounding payments to Ryan Tubridy. Much of the information in the Grant Thornton Report furnished to the Board of RTÉ has emerged in recent days. There are a number of points which I think are important to emphasise.

“In early 2020 RTÉ began discussions around the renewal of Ryan Tubridy’s contract. That contract contained contractual payments that had been negotiated and put in place prior to my arrival at RTÉ. Discussions on the new contract were taking place in the context of major organisational challenges and a commitment from the RTÉ Executive Board to the Board and the Government to reduce the fees paid to RTÉ's top talent by a further 15% overall as part of a wider cost cutting strategy.

“As Director General, I led the discussions with the agent for Ryan Tubridy together with other RTÉ senior executives. We were keen to make a cost saving for RTÉ in respect of a contractual payment which was due to be paid. At the same time, we were attempting to retain Ryan Tubridy’s services as a valued presenter and negotiate a new contract, with the agreed 15% cost cutting target in mind. In an effort to find a solution to the budgetary challenges, we explored if a long serving commercial partner might take on a commercial relationship directly with Ryan Tubridy.

“Following detailed discussions including numerous internal communications over many months with RTÉ colleagues, including finance and legal colleagues, an agreement was reached which delivered cost savings for RTÉ. This agreement meant that the commercial partner would enter into a separate commercial contract with Ryan Tubridy for €75k in exchange for the provision of three events annually.

“As a result of the negotiated cost saving agreement, RTÉ would no longer be liable for a contractual payment that was due in 2020. This new commercial agreement required that RTÉ guarantee and underwrite the €75K payments.

“The commercial partner agreed to this new business relationship with Ryan Tubridy, but they required the change to be cost neutral, as they were in the final year of a three-year sponsorship contract and this was done by issuing a credit note for €75k against their airtime.

“I did not at any stage act contrary to any advice. Unfortunately, the pandemic restrictions meant that the commitment to the commercial client could not be met in 2020 and 2021 and was only delivered in 2022. The commercial partner informed us that the commercial arrangement was not going to work for them in the long term. At this point, only one €75k payment had been made.

“Payment was sought for the 2021 and 2022 contractual commitments that now fell to RTÉ under the guarantee even though RTÉ had never expected to become liable for them and had not budgeted for them. Because of the commercial nature of the arrangement, it was decided to pay the invoices from the commercial barter account which was in credit. We were motivated purely by the need to find a solution to honour the contractual obligation.

“At all times, I and the representatives of RTÉ acted in good faith. I fully accept and acknowledge responsibility for my part in these events as Director General.

“This statement is directed to the events of 2020-2022. I understand from media reports and RTÉ's statement that the Board has raised questions concerning payments to Ryan Tubridy between 2017-2019. I have no knowledge of those payments and the Board has not raised those questions with me.

“Finally, I want to reiterate that I have engaged fully with the Board during this process. However, the Board has not treated me with anything approaching the levels of fairness, equity and respect that anyone should expect as an employee, a colleague or a person. All of this has had a very serious and ongoing impact on my health and wellbeing.

“I am deeply sorry for what has happened and my part in this episode and for that I apologise unreservedly to everyone.

“I care very deeply about RTÉ, the people who work for it, the public it serves, its mission, values, its unique position as a public service broadcaster and its reputation. I will continue to do so as RTÉ moves forward under the new Director General.”

Oliver Callan is standing in for Ryan Tubridy this morning and there will have been a lot of attention paid to his monologue. He handled it with delicacy. Here is what he said.

“It is Monday morning ... and we’re using the hashtag ‘don’t mention the thing’. Yes many many of the front pages of the newspapers this morning as we do our newspaper review are still mentioning the thing ... I hope you don’t expect me to harp on about it all morning ... In many ways we’re like the typical Irish family now, there’s the unpleasantness that’s dripping away in the basement which we’re thinking of but we’ve kind of run out of things to say out loud about.

There’s a whole week of Oireachtas committees and angry politicians venting ... to come ... so you won’t miss a minute of it if you’re tuned to the news and current affairs programs on this channel.

There you go, there’s a little bit of paranoia I think around the place that you know that we’re sort of afraid to be seen to be shirking coverage of the scandal.. So in lieu of that we’re kind of really going at it. I was listening to Brendan O’Connor yesterday nearly apologising to the listeners for moving on to other stories that weren’t about RTÉ and the other story being the possible collapse of Russia after the mutiny of the mercenaries at the weekend ... So we leave it there, the news and current affairs begins again in less than an hour.

RTÉ director general Dee Forbes has resigned “with immediate effect” following controversy surrounding a payments scandal that has engulfed the broadcaster since last week.

In a statement on Monday morning, Ms Forbes said: “I regret very much the upset and adverse publicity suffered by RTÉ, its staff and the unease created among the public in recent days. As director general, I am the person ultimately accountable for what happens within the organisation and I take that responsibility seriously. I am tendering my resignation to RTÉ with immediate effect.”

She traced the controversy back to cost savings that were delivered for RTÉ in 2020 which followed “detailed discussions including numerous internal communications over many months with RTÉ colleagues, including finance and legal colleagues”.

She added “I did not at any stage act contrary to any advice”, and criticised the board’s approach to her since the controversy erupted.

Full story is here.

Cabinet to discuss Tubridy earnings discrepancy, says Richmond

Minister of State Neale Richmond has said that the Cabinet will discuss on Tuesday the controversy over the discrepancy between what Ryan Tubridy reportedly earned and what he actually did earn.

Public confidence in RTÉ needed to be restored, there needed to be full transparency, he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.

The statement of resignation by Dee Forbes on Monday raised more questions rather than providing any answers, he said.

It would be helpful if she were to come before the two Oireachtas committees this week. Senior management at RTÉ also had questions to answer. The priority this week was getting answers, he said. – Vivienne Clarke